The Haitian Project, Inc.
Community Update: Odysseus and Sisyphus
November 2, 2011
Top row: Dressed for the stage, students of Louverture Cleary School act out the epic play The Odyssey.
Bottom Row: LCS students and THP Volunteers use some muscle to operate the new manual rock crusher to
breakdown rubble so it can be used for future building.
You know that work is going well when you have time to play—or, in this case, have a PLAY.
Thursday we had a GREAT, epic play: The Odyssey. Odysseus's journey makes a great
metaphor for Haiti's constant struggle to stability. This struck me as I heard the student body's
reaction of "Oh,oh!" to Odysseus final entrance line, "Home. I have been away for 20 years!"
THP Volunteer Emily Marquet directed a Kreyol interpretation of The Odyssey with a cast of
more than 30 students. Rehearsals ran for eight weeks culminating in a weekend retreat at
LCS where the theatre troupe perfected their lines, told stories around a bonfire, and watched O
Brother, Where Art Thou? On the day of the performance, the actors “played big,” as Emily
says, wowing the audience with comedy, dancing, and, just in time for Halloween, a frightening
Cyclops mask made with scissors and a deflated basketball. The performers thoroughly enjoyed
the experience; Edwine, a senkyem (8th Grade) student, was so thrilled to be cast as the
princess that she ran to thank Volunteer Abi Roznowski for encouraging her to audition. Rumor
has it that Louverturians will be tackling Shakespeare next. Again, congratulations to Emily
Marquet.
Continuing on the Greek theme, thanks once again to the success of last year’s Renovation
Campaign, we were able to purchase a great tool to help us in our Sisyphean task: crushing the
rubble. This task does indeed seem to be endless. But, the manual rock crusher not only makes
it go faster, it also produces more usable products of various grades of sand and aggregate to
use in future building.
Another aspect of THP that is a bit Sisyphean is finding the funds—it has to be done every
year. Recently, I had at least a few minutes of the promised 15 minutes of fame as the other
brother in Steve Schwarzman's good-hearted ribbing of Bank of America. Mr. Schwarzman
teased that my mom must be proud to have two sons that run underfunded, non-profit
organizations. You may enjoy watching the clip (you can advance to 4 minutes to hear
Schwarzman’s comments): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklTbyyNEDg
While I am sure that Bank of America is solid under my brother's excellent management,
Schwarzman has us pegged. We are underfunded this year--who isn't in this tough economy,
and isn’t that the missionary way? Fortunately, we have many generous donors, so we will not
be asking anyone for a big bail out. What I would ask is if you have made your annual
contribution and you feel you could make another one in 2011 that you please do so. Every gift
will help us to narrow the gap. We are currently running 20% behind and need your support to
help cover that.
On the Feast of All Souls, we pray in special appreciation for our departed supporters—may
they rest in peace and intercede on our behalf.
Thank you for your continued support.
Peace, Patrick
-To make a donation or to read recently posted community updates go to www.haitianproject.org
Elizabeth O'Connell Cross
Director of Community Development
The Haitian Project, Inc.
(815) 505-1287
P.O. Box 6891
Providence, RI 02940
“What you receive as gift, you must give as gift.”
“Se gratis nou resevwa, Se gratis tou pou nou bay.”
---Matthew 10:8